Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

A Big Upgrade for Kinross Gold

This bullish call comes from more than just one analyst.

Every day, the sun rises on Wall Street, and a plethora of professional analysts wake to issue new opinions on stocks. Here at the Fool, we use our "This Just In" column to examine some of these picks-- and the track records of the company behind them -- so individuals can make better investing decisions.

In addition to following professional banks, anyone can use Motley Fool CAPS to monitor the collective opinions of more than 135,000 members, many of whom demonstrate better investing insight than the published analysts do.

In CAPS, gold miner Kinross Gold(NYSE:KGC) saw the four- and five-star rank it has held for much of 2008 evaporate in early 2009, leaving the company stuck at a three-star rating for months -- until recently, that is. Lately, enough highly performing CAPS members have felt bullish enough on Kinross to give it a little four-star time once again. A total of 1,323 members have given their opinion on Kinross Gold, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.

Achieving almost 527,000 ounces of gold equivalent production, the Canadian gold producer pulled off nearly twice the production as peer Yamana Gold(NYSE:AUY) in the first quarter. Thanks largely to mines added through acquisition, revenue jumped by 61% to $532.7 million, while Kinross lowered costs per ounce to $419 from $472. The expansion of its Paracatu mine in Brazil -- Kinross acquired the remaining share of the mine from Rio Tinto(NYSE:RTP) in 2004 -- is expected to hit full design capacity by the end of this quarter. And with other mines -- including Kupol and Buckhorn -- opening last year, Kinross’ annual output is expected to increase significantly this year.

The company also looks forward to a new round of openings at Cerro Casale, which it owns with Barrick Gold(NYSE:ABX); Lobo-Marte, which it picked up from Teck Resources(NYSE:TCK) and Anglo American(NYSE:AAUK); and Fruta del Norte. In addition to all of the bullish CAPS members, Kinross has caught the eye of John Paulson, who holds a sizeable position in Kinross, as well as gold in general, with a massive stake in the SPDR GoldTrust(NYSE:GLD).

To see what the very best CAPS analysts are saying now about Kinross Gold -- as well as other winning stocks they are picking -- head on over to CAPS and have a look.

Motley Fool Stock Advisorscours the market for top stocks poised to beat the market over the long haul. To see all of the stocks that have helped Tom and David Gardner beat the market by 41 points on average, take a free 30-day trial.

Fool contributorDave Mockrecently upgraded his hot sauce collection with one that should seriously be outlawed. He owns no shares of companies mentioned here. The Fool'sdisclosure policycomes with a free bag of chips.